Compiled by Katherine Duke ’05
Boss or Dupe: The Voter in American Politics
By Dr. Jeff Rohlfs ’65 (Self-published)
This analysis of the interplay of special interests and voters in Washington politics is available as a free PDF download from www.jeffrohlfs.com.
The Darlings in Love
By Melissa Kantor ’91 (Hyperion)
Teenaged friends Victoria, Natalya and Jane deal with infatuation and heartbreak.
The Founding Fathers Reconsidered
By R.B. Bernstein ’77 (Oxford University Press)
Bernstein shows Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton and others as ambitious but flawed human beings who both shaped and were shaped by historic and political forces.
Freedom Betrayed: Herbert Hoover’s Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath
Edited and with an introduction by George H. Nash ’67 (Hoover Institution Press)
President Hoover labored over this book—which he considered his “magnum opus”—for 20 years, until his death in 1964. It remained in storage, unpublished, until now.
Good Dirt: Confessions of a Conservationist
By David E. Morine ’66 (Globe Pequot Press)
An expanded and updated edition of the bestseller in which a former head of land acquisition for The Nature Conservancy shares lessons and laughs from the conservation business
The Harriet Lane Handbook
Edited by Megan M. Tschudy ’00 and Kristin M. Arcara (Elsevier)
This is the 19th and latest edition of The Johns Hopkins University’s guide to pediatric diagnosis and treatment.
A High Price: The Triumphs & Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism
By Daniel Byman ’89 (Oxford University Press)
Byman, a professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Sabin Center for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution, details Israel’s historical efforts to root out terrorist groups.
Houdini: Art and Magic
By Brooke Kamin Rapaport ’84 (Yale University Press in association with The Jewish Museum)
This richly illustrated history of the iconic performer’s life and career accompanies an exhibition now at the Madison (Wis.) Museum of Contemporary Art until May 13, 2012.
Levinas and the Postcolonial: Race, Nation, Other
By John E. Drabinski, visiting associate professor of black studies (Edinburgh University Press)
Drabinski puts Emmanuel Levinas’ notion of “the Other” into conversation with the work of several postcolonial thinkers from India, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Lost Poem and Others Like It
By Eric Jay Sonnenschein ’75 (Hudson Heights Press)
In addition to original ballads, sonnets, calligrams and other forms of poetry, Sonnenschein presents “a new invention—graffiti verse.”
Making Up for Lost Time: A Book of Essays
By Eric Jay Sonnenschein ’75 (Hudson Heights Press)
Sonnenschein’s essays cover such topics as “The Perfect Coffee” and “Compulsion.”
Pastimes: From Art and Antiquarianism to Modern Chinese Historiography
By Shana J. Brown ’93 (University of Hawai‘i Press)
Brown presents the first book in English on jinshi, a Chinese tradition of antiquarianism that dates back more than 1,000 years.
Shakespeare Shortened: Five condensed plays for the classroom
By David R. Wellens ’90 (Meriwether Publishing/Contemporary Drama Service)
Wellens provides paraphrased versions of King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet for practice and performance by young actors.
Thinking Reed: Centennial Essays by Graduates of Reed College
Edited by Roger Porter ’58 and Robert Reynolds (Reed College)
This collection includes essays by more than 30 alumni of Reed College in Oregon, where Porter has taught for 50 of the school’s 100 years.